Dennis Allen didn’t need a full-blown blueprint to make Michael Penix Jr. uncomfortable on Sunday. He just leaned into the one crack that had already started to show.
In the Falcons’ 31-23 loss to the Bears in Week 6, Penix ran into the kind of heat that has followed him into this season’s spotlight. He has looked sharp with a clean pocket, but pressure has been another story entirely. That split showed up again in Chicago, where the Bears repeatedly sped him up and forced Atlanta’s offense off schedule.
Penix was pressured 22 times, according to PFF, which was the most he has faced in a start this season. He was also sacked six times. ESPN research added more detail to the rough afternoon, noting that he was pressured on a career-high 46% of his dropbacks and blitzed on 51% of them, the second-highest blitz rate of his career.
Allen, who knows the Falcons from his time in New Orleans and now coordinates Chicago’s defense, came in with a plan shaped in part by what Baltimore had already done to Penix the week before. The Bears didn’t have the luxury of a full-strength pass rush, either.
They were without Montez Sweat, who was suspended, Dayo Odeyingbo, who was out with a quad injury, and linebacker T.J. Edwards.
That didn’t stop them from overwhelming Atlanta up front.
Instead, Chicago got creative. With Austin Booker and Grady Jarrett helping lead the charge, the Bears used plenty of defensive back blitzes and made the most of them. Cornerback Kyler Gordon had three sacks, one of the most eye-catching numbers from the game.
Of the 22 pressures Atlanta allowed on Penix, eight came from the secondary, which was 36.4%. Gordon finished with four pressures, former Falcon Clark Phillips III had three, and Dillon Thieneman added one.
That’s the problem Atlanta keeps inviting. The Falcons’ offensive line has trouble handling extra bodies in protection, and once defenses start sending them, the rhythm behind Penix can disappear fast. That’s what Allen and others are starting to exploit.
Even Atlanta’s final possession couldn’t escape the pressure. The Bears ended that drive with a strip sack after Jawaan Taylor got beaten on a blitz. And while Penix had some strong throws and put together a respectable stat line, the larger issue is hard to brush aside.
He did improve against the blitz late, but that came after Chicago had taken out its starters, which softened the challenge. The bigger concern is whether the same formula will keep working when defenses load up on him like this again.
Penix has been excellent for Atlanta this season, but Sunday was a reminder that his slow start under pressure helped bury the Falcons early. The offensive line deserves its share of blame for missing blitz pickups, but Dennis Allen and the Bears deserve credit for exposing the issue and making the league take notice.
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Branchs miscues came in different phases of the return game, the kind of errors that can change field position in a hurry and give an opponent life. For a team already dealing with broader struggles, the pressure now is not just to clean it up, but to decide how much trust to keep placing in that part of the roster going forward. [Read more 🡒]